JP2017528888A - Lighting control - Google Patents

Abstract

A controller for controlling a plurality of lighting devices to emit light, wherein each lighting device depends on at least one respective setting and the controller is captured by the camera, at least one of the users Obtaining image data representing a cornea image formed by light reflected from at least a portion of one cornea into the camera; automatically updating one or more respective settings of the lighting device based on the cornea image Determining one or more lighting devices according to the update; and repeating these acquisition, determination, and control steps as the user moves to dynamically configure the lighting device settings And a control device configured to adapt to.

Description

  The present disclosure relates to techniques for automatically and dynamically controlling one or more lighting devices.

  One or more lights, such as lighting fixtures that illuminate a room or other environment, for example to switch lights on and off, increase and decrease light levels, or set the color settings of emitted light There are several techniques for controlling the device.

  One technique is to use applications that run on user terminals such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops or desktop computers. A wired or wireless communication channel is provided between the user terminal and the controller of the lighting device, and this communication channel is typically Wi-Fi®, ZigBee (registered) in the case of mobile user terminals. Trademark) or an RF channel such as a Bluetooth (registered trademark) channel. The application is configured to use this channel to send a lighting control request to the controller based on user input entered into the application running on the user terminal. However, this is not very user friendly.

  Another technique for controlling the lighting device is gesture control. In systems that employ gesture control, the system may include suitable sensor equipment, such as 2D video cameras, stereo video cameras, depth perception (ranging) video cameras (eg, time-of-flight cameras), infrared or ultrasound based sensing devices. Or a wearable sensor device (eg, a garment or accessory that incorporates one or more accelerometers and / or gyro sensors). A gesture recognition algorithm operating on the control device acts to receive input from the sensor device, recognize predetermined gestures made by the user based on this input, and map these gestures to lighting control requests. This is somewhat natural for the user, but still requires explicit manual user input.

  There are several techniques for automatically controlling lights such as buildings or rooms. These include detecting the presence of a user with a presence detector such as a passive infrared sensor or an active ultrasonic sensor. However, these techniques tend to be fairly rough. Because these techniques detect whether there is a user in a certain predetermined area of a building or room, and simply switch the light on or off, or increase and decrease the light depending on whether or not Because it is not too much.

  It would be desirable to find alternative techniques for automatically controlling one or more lighting devices that a user wishes to control.

  Corneal imaging is a newly emerging technology that captures a high-resolution picture of a person with a camera and extracts the reflections seen in that person's eye to see what is in the field of view. decide. The inventors recognize that this (known) technique applies to lighting control and in particular to automatic dynamic control of lighting. Thus, in the following, the illumination system is controlled based on the entire or partial image of the illumination system or illuminated environment reflected by the user's cornea as the user moves and the reflected cornea image changes. A control apparatus, system, method, and computer program product are disclosed. Such functionality is obtained by imaging the user's cornea using a high resolution camera so that a reflected scene is acquired. Control is dynamic in that new images are acquired as the reflected scene changes and the illumination can be determined for each scene. A new illumination setting can then be calculated.

  Thus, according to one aspect disclosed herein, a controller for controlling a plurality of lighting devices to emit light, wherein each lighting device depends on at least one respective setting. The controller acquires image data representing a cornea image formed by light reflected by the camera from at least a portion of the user's at least one cornea captured by the camera; based on the cornea image; Automatically determining an update to one or more respective settings of the lighting device; controlling one or more lighting devices according to the update; obtaining, determining and controlling when the user moves Is provided to dynamically adapt the settings of the lighting device. According to further aspects disclosed herein, corresponding systems, methods, and computer program products are provided.

  In this regard, eye tracking or gaze tracking can be used to determine the direction in which the user is looking. In the field of eye tracking and eye tracking, eye images are used to determine, for example, the relative position of the eye with respect to the user's head to determine whether the person is facing left or right; or the user The relative position of the eyes with respect to the environment is determined to determine which area in the user's environment the user is looking at. In order to determine which object the user is looking at using these techniques, a map of the user's environment is required. Furthermore, detection of the position of the user's eyes, ie the center of the pupil, determines the user's line of sight. Unlike corneal imaging, corneal imaging automatically updates each one or more settings of the lighting device based on which lighting devices appear in and / or affect the corneal image. To decide.

  In some embodiments, the controller can be configured such that the determination includes automatically determining an update for each setting based on the position of the one or more lighting devices relative to the cornea image.

  For example, the controller may automatically determine an update for each setting of one or more lighting devices depending on whether the position-dependent decision appears directly in the cornea image. Can be configured to include. Alternatively or additionally, the controller may update the respective settings of the lighting device or devices depending on whether the position-dependent decision contributes indirectly to the light forming the cornea image. Can be configured to automatically determine.

  Furthermore, in addition to being able to capture a corneal image, in some embodiments, the user's field of view (FoV) in the corneal image, or the user's central field of view and / or peripheral field of view can also be estimated. Thereby, based on the user's line of sight, lighting appearing or influencing in the user's FoV, central field of view or peripheral field of view can be estimated and processed so that those effects can be taken into account.

  Thus, in some embodiments, the controller can be configured to determine the user's field of view in the cornea image and depends on whether the position-dependent determination appears in the field of view. And / or depending on whether it contributes to light in the field of view, may be configured to include automatically determining an update for each setting of the one or more lighting devices. In some embodiments, the controller may depend on whether the position-dependent decision appears in the central region and / or depends on whether it contributes to light in the central region. It may be configured to include automatically determining an update for each setting of the one or more lighting devices. As an alternative or in addition, the control device may depend on whether position-dependent decisions are appearing in the surrounding area and / or whether it contributes to light in the surrounding area. It may be configured to include automatically determining an update for each setting of the one or more lighting devices.

  For example, the update sets any lighting device in the corneal image, field of view, or central region to on or the first light output level, and turns off any lighting device outside the corneal image, field of view, or central region, respectively. Setting to the second light output level may be included.

  In one example, the update maintains a constant value with respect to the corneal image, field of view, or any lighting device settings currently appearing in the central region as the user moves and / or as the user moves. Maintaining a constant value for the setting of any lighting device currently contributing to the light in the image, field of view, or central region may be included.

  In a further embodiment, the new lighting setting is for example a user preference, a light setting associated with an object in the user's cornea image or FoV, and / or a current and / or previous observed in the user's cornea image. It can be calculated according to the light settings and / or other users' light settings.

  For example, the controller may determine that (a) the update is automatically determined in response to detecting that a predetermined object has appeared in the corneal image, field of view, or central region, and (b) the corneal image. Automatically determining an update based on a measure of contrast measured in the field of view, or central region, and / or (c) that the intensity in the cornea image, field of view, or central region has exceeded a threshold Responsive to the detection, configured to include one or more of automatically reducing the intensity of the one or more lighting devices.

  In some embodiments, the controller can be configured to retrieve one or more preset lighting control rules from a database, wherein the lighting control rules are preset and applied by the user to be applied. May be determined according to one or more preset lighting control rules.

  To assist in understanding the present disclosure and illustrating how embodiments may be implemented, reference is made to the accompanying drawings as an example.

1 is a schematic diagram of an environment including a lighting system and a user. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a user's eye including a corneal reflection of a lighting device. 2 is a flow diagram of a method for automatically and dynamically controlling a lighting device. FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a scheme for automatically and dynamically updating lighting device settings when a user moves within an environment. FIG. 6 schematically illustrates a scheme for automatically and dynamically updating lighting device settings when a user moves within an environment.

In recent decades, higher resolution sensors have become available and imaging has evolved. For example, some modern smartphones currently provide resolutions in excess of 40 megapixels with sophisticated lens systems. Increasing pixel resolution helps make corneal imaging feasible. Corneal imaging requires high pixel resolution because the target image is reflected only from a small area of the cornea (often from a distance). Corneal imaging is documented by Columbia University et al. For example, see the following literature.
“Corneal Imaging System: Environment from Eyes”; KO NISHINO, Department of Computer Science, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; and SHREE K.NAYAR, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, 1214 Amsterdam Avenue MC 0401, New York, NY 10027; Published April 2006; Springer Science + Business Media, Inc .; International Journal of Computer Vision 70 (1), 23-40, 2006; DOI 10.1007 / s11263-006-6274-9. For example, FIGS. 1, 15, 17, 18, and 19 of this reference give an idea of the level details that can now be captured from the cornea using modern techniques.

  See also “Eyes for Relighting”, Ko Nishino and Shree K Nayer, Department of Computer Science, Columbia University, 2004, ACM 0730-0301 / 04 / 0800-0704.

  Furthermore, corneal imaging has many commercialization potentials across various market areas, including illumination control as recognized herein.

Accordingly, the following discloses a controller, system, computer program, and method for controlling a lighting device based on the following iterative process:
The process of capturing a cornea image (ie, an image of the reflection in the cornea showing what the user is looking at);
Based on the cornea image, which lighting device is in the user's field of view (FoV) or which lighting device has an effect on the user's FoV (eg based on the color of the encoded or emitted light) ) The determining process (note that in some embodiments the lighting device itself does not necessarily need to be in the user's field of view, only the emitted light need be in the user's FoV);
A process of determining light settings (eg, based on a user profile) to be applied to the identified lighting device; and a process of controlling the lighting device according to rules (eg, preset by the user)

Examples of these rules are as follows:
The lighting effect moves with the location where the user is looking. For example, when the user looks at the right side of the room, in response, it is illuminated with some specific color, such as purple, and then when the user begins to look at the left side of the room, it is then illuminated with a purple hue. Done;
Switching off lighting devices that are not in the user's FoV (or switching off lighting devices that do not contribute to the user's FoV. Some lighting devices may not be visible to the user, but the light effects they produce are Still in the user's FoV, eg reflected from the wall).

  Note that in general, not all corneal images are actually viewed by the user. That is, the cornea reflects more than is projected through the pupil onto the user's retina. Thus, in some embodiments, the cornea image is processed to estimate the user's field of view within the cornea image. However, although the embodiments described herein may be illustrated with respect to FoV, more generally, the process described herein will result in a complete corneal image (as an approximation of the user's field of view). Based on a determination as to whether it is appearing in and / or affecting, or in particular, which lighting device is the central region (eg, corresponding to the fovea or macular) of the user's FoV and / or (eg, the fovea or Applied based on the determination of appearing and / or affecting within a smaller sub-region within FoV, such as peripheral vision (outside of the macula), or based on any combination of such considerations obtain.

  FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary lighting system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. This system is installed or arranged in an environment 2, such as an indoor space of a building with one or more rooms and / or corridors, an indoor space such as a garden or a park, or an east A partially covered space, or indeed any other space such as a vehicle cabin. The system comprises a controller 9 and one or more controllable lighting devices 4 coupled to the controller 9 via a wireless and / or wired connection, the controller 9 being a wireless and / or wired connection. The lighting device 4 can be controlled via Although three lighting devices 4a, 4b, and 4c are shown in FIG. 1 as an example, in other embodiments, the system can operate from one to tens, hundreds, and even during control of the controller 9 It should be understood that other numbers of lighting devices 4 may be provided, such as several thousand lighting devices. In some embodiments, each lighting device 4 represents various lighting fixtures for illuminating the environment 2, or various individually controllable light sources (lamps) of the lighting fixtures, each light source being an LED, etc. Comprising one or more lighting elements (a luminaire is a luminaire comprising a light source and any associated housing and / or socket. In many cases there is one light source per luminaire, It is not excluded that a given luminaire may comprise a plurality of independently controllable light sources). For example, each luminaire or light source 4 may include an array of LEDs, a filament bulb, or a gas discharge lamp.

  The controller 9 represents a functional element that can be implemented in one or more physical locations in the form of one or more physical controller units. For example, the controller 9 may be implemented as a single central controller connected to the light source 4 via a lighting network, but distributed, for example in the form of separate controller units integrated in each lighting device 4. It may be implemented as a control device. The control device 9 may be implemented locally in the environment 2 or remotely, for example from a server communicating with the lighting device 4 via a network such as the Internet, or any combination thereof. May be. Furthermore, the control device 9 may be implemented by software, a dedicated hardware circuit configuration, a configurable or reconfigurable circuit configuration such as PGA or FPGA, or any combination of such means. In the case of software, this takes the form of code stored on one or more computer-readable storage media and configured to be executed by one or more processors of the controller 9. For example, a computer-readable storage device may take the form of a magnetic medium such as a hard disk, an electronic medium such as an EEPROM or “flash” memory, an optical medium such as a CD-ROM, or any combination of such media. it can.

  The system further comprises a high resolution camera 10 coupled to the controller 9 via a local or remote wired and / or wireless connection. The camera 10 may be a stand-alone device or may be incorporated in another product such as a mobile device or a television. In any case, the camera 10 is such that when a (human) user 6 is present, at least a part of at least one eye 12 of the user 6 is visible in the picture; in particular, the picture is at least one cornea 18 of the user 6. Is positioned in a position and orientation suitable for capturing at least one picture of environment 2 to include at least a portion of the image. In some embodiments, a plurality of such cameras may be used to cover a wider environment, but in the following, a single camera 10 will be described as an example.

  FIG. 2 is a simplified diagram of the human eye 12. The eye 12 includes a sclera (white eye) 16, an iris 20, a pupil 22, and a cornea 18. The eyes 12 can be partially covered by the ridges 15. The cornea 18 is a transparent part of the eye that covers the iris 20 and pupil 22 (and the anterior chamber (not shown) located in front of the iris 20 and pupil 22 but behind the cornea 18). The cornea 18 is an optical part of the eye 12 that plays a part in refracting light passing through the pupil 22 in order to form an image on the retina (not shown) of the eye. The cornea 18 also has high reflectivity. Note that the cornea 18 does not spread over the non-reflective sclera 16. The cornea 18 is separated from (and attached to) the sclera 16 by the limbus.

  As illustrated in more detail below, the camera 10 is used by the controller 9 to image the cornea 18 and obtain a scene reflected from the cornea 18. Resolve individual object details in the scene using a sufficiently high resolution camera 10 with respect to the situation (e.g. giving the distance from camera 10 to user 6 and the angle of the user's cornea 18 relative to camera 10). be able to. For example, see again the publication by Nishino and Nayer cited above. Thus, if one or more of the lighting devices 4 are within the solid angle reflected by the cornea 18, these lighting devices 4 are seen in the cornea image. As an example, FIG. 2 shows two reflections 4b 'and 4c' of the lighting devices 4b and 4c reflected from the cornea 18, respectively.

  Thus, from the cornea image, the controller 9 determines which of the illumination devices 4 (if any) are present in the cornea image and / or which of the illumination devices 4 is the user's field of view in the cornea image, the user's center. It can be estimated whether it exists in the field of view and / or in the peripheral field of view of the user.

  Next, the operation of the controller 9 will be discussed in more detail with respect to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and the diagrams of FIGS. 4A and 4B.

  At step T10, a user 6 (or actually a different user, eg a system administrator) defines a light map 11, which defines the relationship between lamp settings at various fields of view (FoV). . A lightmap is a database of any size, from a small lookup table to a large one, and any suitable storage medium, for example a local storage device of the control device 9, or a local or remote that the control device 9 accesses over a network Can be implemented on the server. Furthermore, the light map 11 may be implemented with a single physical storage unit or distributed across multiple physical storage units.

  The light map 11 shows how the user 6 wants to change the lighting device 4 in his environment 2 when he changes his FoV (or another user, such as an administrator, How to change the lighting device 4 with FoV). The light map 11 may consist of several templates, each with one or more instructions or a set of detailed instructions, and the control information can be detected on the basis of the cornea image and / or the lighting device 4 and / or Associate with multiple possible environments.

  For example, the light map 11 can be identified for each lighting device 4 in the system, what settings should be applied to that particular lighting device when in the FoV and / or when it is outside the FoV. What settings should be applied to a particular lighting device (and / or what if the lighting device is completely within and / or outside the cornea image, the central field of view, and / or the peripheral field of view) Can be listed). Alternatively, the light map 11 can define a rule that can be applied to all lighting devices 4 in the system, and that rule should be applied to any lighting device in the FoV. And / or what settings should be applied to any lighting device when it is outside the FoV (and / or if it is entirely within the cornea image, the central field of view, and / or the peripheral field of view) Define what settings should be applied to any lighting device).

  As an example, when the user 6 changes his / her FoV, the user 6 may select a template that defines the lighting settings to be changed so that the same lighting settings are maintained in the FoV regardless of the user's orientation. That is, a specific lighting effect follows the user's line of sight, for example, thereby causing any light in the user's FoV to always be on, increased to a specific level, or emitted in a specific color. Optionally, the lighting device behind the user 6 (and thus not within the user's FoV) is also controlled, for example, thereby dimming to a certain level where the lighting device outside the user's FoV is always off. Or emit light in certain other colors.

  As another example, the template in the light map 11 describes the characteristics of each lighting device 4 when in the central region of the user's 6 FoV and the characteristics of each lighting device 4 when in the peripheral field of the user 6. There is.

  In step T <b> 20, the control device 9 images the corneal reflection from the cornea 18 of the user 6 using the high resolution camera 10. The controller 9 tracks the cornea 18 and calculates the scene reflected by the image of the cornea 18 using, for example, the technique disclosed by Nishino and Nayer.

  At step T30, the controller 9 determines which one or more lighting devices 4 are present in the scene imaged by the user's cornea 18. Lighting devices present in the reflected scene are determined and identified by processing the image (eg, using relative intensity changes across the scene), so that they can be individually addressed. This can be achieved in several ways.

  For example, in some embodiments, the lighting device 4 may be identified based on the encoded light. In this case, each lighting device 4 emits light respectively modulated with different embedded IDs (in some embodiments at frequencies exceeding human perception) that are unique to each other in the system. Configured, for example, each light is modulated with a different modulation frequency or a different digital code. This frequency or code can then be detected from each reflection 4b ', 4c' of the illumination devices 4b, 4c present in the corneal image (in an embodiment over multiple frames). The encoded optical signal can be demodulated by the controller 9 or by the embedded encoded light function at the camera 10.

  In another example, the illumination devices 4b, 4c in the cornea image may be identified by the position of the illumination device 4 in the cornea image. For example, assuming a known geometry of the human cornea 18, the controller 9 calculates the position or orientation of the lighting devices 4b, 4c appearing in the cornea image relative to the user 6 and / or to the camera 10. be able to. The camera 10 may also appear reflected in the corneal image. Given the knowledge of the “absolute” position or orientation of the user 6 and / or the camera 10 (ie, the position or orientation relative to the environment 2 or some other known reference frame), the controller 9 determines the absolute position of the lighting device 4. Or the orientation can be calculated. Given a database or table that maps its ID to the absolute position of the lighting device 4, the controller 9 can determine the identifier of the reflected device 4b, 4c.

  In a further example, the lighting devices 4b, 4c in the cornea image may have individual lamps (possibly noticed) due to different characteristics of the lighting device 4 (eg unique color spectrum, intensity, etc.) or using the controller 9. Can be identified by polling).

  According to Nishino and Nayar, the “corneal field” (ie the complete corneal image reflected by the cornea 18) is always larger than the user field (part of the cornea image projected onto the retina). Please note that. That is, not all reflected by the cornea 18 is refracted by the pupil 22. Therefore, Nishino and Nayar provide an algorithm for calculating the user's field of view (FoV) from the cornea image.

  Thus, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 9 more generally does not identify which is appearing in the cornea image, or in addition, of the lighting device 4 (if any). It may be configured to process the cornea image to identify which is specifically appearing in the user's FoV. For example, the condition identified for control may in particular be that the lighting device 4 is in the FoV but not in the cornea image; or alternatively, the manner in which the identified device is controlled. Can be identified as being within the FoV, or being identified as being within the cornea but outside the FoV (eg, user input is within the cornea but within the FoV It has a stronger effect on devices that are in the FoV than devices that are not.)

  It is further noted that the human visual field is composed of a central region and a peripheral visual field, which differ in that they have different photoreceptor densities within the corresponding region of the retina. Different biological definitions are possible, for example, the central region may correspond to the macula or fovea (retinal macular or foveal region) and the peripheral region may correspond to the rest of the retina. is there. Thus, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 9 may cause any of the lighting devices 4 (if any) to appear specifically in the user's central visual field and / or particularly in the peripheral visual field. It may be configured to process the cornea image to identify. For example, the condition identified for control may in particular be that the lighting device 4 is in the central region of the user's FoV but not in the user's peripheral vision; or alternatively, it is identified. The manner in which the device 4 is controlled may depend on whether it is identified as being in the central area of the FoV or in the peripheral area of the FoV (eg, user input is within the peripheral area) Affects devices in the central area more than devices in

  Although the embodiments herein may be described with respect to FoV, wherever it is stated to identify which lighting device 4 is present or appearing within the FoV etc., this may alternatively or additionally As such, it should be understood that determining whether a complete corneal image, a central region of the user's FoV, and / or a peripheral visual region of the user's FoV is present or appearing may also be applicable. For example, a complete corneal image can be used as an approximation of the user's field of view to avoid complex processing involved in the calculation of FoV.

  Furthermore, in some embodiments, the controller 9 uses the cornea image to determine not only which of the illumination devices 4 appears directly in the cornea image, FoV, central region, and / or peripheral field of view, It can also be identified which of the lighting devices 4 contributes indirectly to the light reflected from the cornea 18 to the camera 10. Here, “indirect” means that the lighting device 4 itself is behind the user 6 and outside the solid angle covered by the cornea 18, but still some light from that device 4 is white Meaning that it is reached by reflection (eg diffuse reflection) on some other additional surface, such as a wall, and then reflected by the cornea 18. For example, if the lighting devices 4 are identified by characteristics such as encoded light they emit, or spectrum, this information may be detectable even from indirect light.

  Wherever this specification states identifying which illumination device 4 is present or appearing (ie appears directly) in the corneal image, FoV, central vision region, or peripheral vision region, etc. Alternatively or additionally, it may also be relevant to identify which lighting device 4 contributes to the light in the cornea image, FoV, central field of view and / or peripheral field of view.

  Identifying the lighting devices 4 that are in the cornea image identifies the fact that the one or more lighting devices 4 are in the cornea image and determining the identifiers of those lighting devices 4 Note that both are included. Similarly, identifying lighting devices 4 in a central region, central viewing region, or peripheral viewing region, such as FoV, identifies that those one or more lighting devices 4 are within a particular region of interest. And determining the identifiers of those lighting devices 4.

  In addition, the condition for identifying the illumination device 4 to be in or inside the cornea image, FoV, central region, or peripheral region is that the illumination device 4 is completely in the cornea image, FoV, central region, or peripheral region. (In which case device 4 is considered to be outside if some of device 4 is outside); or alternatively, a cornea image, FoV, central region, or peripheral region The condition for being identified as being inside or inside may be that at least a part of the lighting device 4 appears in the cornea image, FoV, central region or peripheral region, respectively (in that case, completely outside) Note that it is only considered to be outside). As another alternative, various rules can be defined for the lighting device 4 to cover various contingencies of identification that are completely within the cornea image, FoV, or within the region, completely outside, or overlapping. To do.

  Regardless of the criteria for identification, each identified illumination device 4 in the cornea image, FoV, central region, and / or peripheral field region is then tagged with its respective associated setting (the setting is Can be determined from the lighting controller 9 or estimated from an image of the scene containing the lighting device 4).

  In step T40, the control device 9 detects a change in the FoV of the user 6. The change in FoV detects changes in the scene captured in the cornea image (including the light source) or some other such as an image recognition algorithm applied to a wider picture captured by the camera 10 or a separate motion sensor It can be detected in several ways, such as detecting a change in the orientation of the user by means of

  In response, at step T50, the controller 9 detects which of the lighting devices 4 are present in the subsequent FoV, and this detection includes the determination of the identifiers of those lighting devices 4. Similar to step T30, an image of the scene reflected by the cornea 18 is captured and FoV is calculated as described, for example, by Nishino and Nayer. The lighting devices 4 present in the scene are detected (eg using a relative intensity change across the scene) and the unique identifier of each lighting device in the scene is ascertained so that the lighting devices can be individually addressed. . This is also based on the encoded light; by the user (and hence the FOV) and the known position and / or orientation of the lighting device 4; by the different characteristics of the lamp (color, intensity etc.); Can be realized in several ways, such as by polling the lamps (possibly without being aware). Each lighting device 4 in the FoV is then tagged with its respective associated setting.

  In step S60, the control device 9 calculates a setting change regarding one or more of the lighting devices 4 based on the change of the light map 11 and the FoV or the new FoV. This determines the setting of the lighting device 4 that was originally in the user's FoV, determines the current setting and identifier of the lighting device 4 in the user's new FoV, and identifies the user in the new FoV This is achieved by determining the required new settings of the illuminated lighting device 4. This is done using the light map 11 and the functions represented by the light map 11 to calculate a new absolute setting for the lighting device in the user's new FoV.

  In some embodiments, here to determine lighting devices that are outside the user's FoV and how the settings of those lighting devices should be set based on another function represented by the light map 11 A similar process can be applied to determine this. Or, in alternative or additional embodiments, a similar process controls lighting devices that are detected as being within the user's central field of view and settings of lighting devices that are detected as being within the user's peripheral field of view. Can be adapted to

  Having calculated the new absolute level, the controller 9 then calculates the necessary changes between the lamp's existing settings and their required new settings. Alternatively, there is no need to calculate a new setting for changes to the previous setting, the controller 9 simply determines the new absolute setting directly (based on the new FoV and rules in the light map 11). May be.

  It should also be noted that step T40 is not necessary in all possible embodiments. For example, instead of detecting a change in the user's FoV, the control device 9 may identify the lighting device in the FoV periodically, that is, at regular intervals (step T50).

  4A and 4B show an example of rules that are defined by the light map 11 and that can be applied according to the process described above. In this example, there are three lighting devices 4a, 4b, 4c in the system, each in a different position around the user in the horizontal plane. The rule in the light map 11 is that any illumination device 4 detected in the user's FoV 26 (or other optically defined area relative to the user's cornea image 18, eg the central field of view or the entire cornea image) is turned on. Or any lighting device 4 detected outside this area is switched off or second lower than the first level is set to the first dimming level. Define that it should be dimmed to a level of. Suppose that the user 6 is currently pointing his gaze 24 so that the FoV 26 includes the lighting devices 4b and 4c but not the lighting device 4a. The control device 9 detects this from the cornea image and, based on the rules retrieved in the light map 11, controls on the lighting devices 4b and 4c accordingly (or is dimmed to the first level) and illumination. Control device 4a off (or dimmed to second level). The user then turns his line of sight 24 in a different direction, where FoV 26 includes lighting devices 4a and 4b but no longer includes lighting device 4c. The controller 9 detects this and accordingly controls the lighting devices 4a and 4b on (or dimmed to the first level) and controls the lighting device 4c off (or according to the rules) (or Dimmed to a second level).

  A similar process can be used to control the color of the light, for example any lighting device 4 in the FoV 26 is set to a specific color and any lighting device outside the FoV 26 is switched off, or Set to a specific other color.

  Above, a process has been described in which the illumination devices 4 are controlled based on their position relative to the cornea image (eg whether or not they are within and / or affect the FoV in the cornea image). However, in other alternative or additional embodiments, the controller 9 may be configured to control the lighting device based on one or more other characteristics detected from the scene reflected in the cornea image. .

  For example, in one embodiment, the cornea image can be used to determine if any light is blinking and therefore should be dimmed. For example, an upper threshold intensity that does not make the light unpleasant or harmful to the average or typical user can be set, and the controller 9 can be configured to use any lighting device 4 in the reflected scene (or point in the scene). Can be configured to act to dimm the lighting device 4 that exceeds the threshold until it does not exceed the threshold.

  In another example, a new light setting may be automatically derived based on the contrast present in the scene reflected from the cornea 18. In this case, the controller 9 can be configured to adapt the lighting device until the contrast (and thus the glare) falls below a certain characterized level. For example, when automatically adapting the contrast in the scene, the contrast of the image in the scene can be calculated to identify lighting devices 4 that deviate from a predetermined maximum contrast ratio. New lighting settings can then be calculated for out-of-range lighting devices so that the overall contrast ratio of the scene is reduced. Accordingly, new settings for the lighting device are automatically calculated to limit the maximum contrast that can be seen in the cornea 18 of the user 6.

  In yet another example, a new illumination setting may be calculated according to the light setting associated with the user's cornea image or an object detected with FoV. For example, the user 6 may specify a specific object or a specific type of object that he / she is interested in in the light map 11, and the controller 9 may determine that the object (based on an image recognition algorithm) One or more of the lighting devices 4 are configured to be switched on or brightened, or switched off or dimmed when detected in reflection from the user's cornea 18. For example, this technique can be used to automatically illuminate lost items that the user 6 is looking for, or to automatically dimm room lighting when the user 6 is watching television.

  For multiple users, an arbitration algorithm can be used to adapt the settings of each lamp so that each user's preferences are taken into account in the settings of the lighting device 4. Therefore, in some embodiments, the controller 9 identifies one or more of the controllable lighting devices 4 based on the cornea images of the plurality of users, and the plurality of users among the controllable lighting devices. Arbitration may be configured to automatically control a controllable lighting device identified based on the corneal image of the subject.

  For example, such an arbitration algorithm may be configured to perform arbitration based on any one or more of the following rules: In one embodiment, the arbitration algorithm may determine whether there are matching preferences for different users. For example, there are two users and each user prefers a 40% dimming level, so this is the set dimming level. In some embodiments, the arbitration algorithm can determine whether there are overlapping preference ranges for different users. For example, there are three users, the first user likes a dimming level between 30% and 60%, the second user likes the dimming level between 40% and 80%, The third user prefers a dimming level between 50% and 100%, so the dimming level is selected within the overlap range of 50% to 60%. For example, the selection of the dimming level within this range may be based on the average dimming level preference of all three users. In further embodiments, the algorithm may arbitrate between different user preferences. For example, a first user prefers a dimming level between 20% and 50%, a second user prefers a dimming level between 70% and 100%, and the set dimming level is It is intermediate between the upper limit of the first user and the lower limit of the second user. In further embodiments, the algorithm may request user feedback to resolve the difference in preferences, for example, requesting users to adapt their preferences. In further embodiments, the algorithm may prioritize user preferences based on ranking, for example, a user at a home location has priority over a user who is a guest at that location. These are just a few examples. User preferences may relate to dimming levels, light colors, illuminated areas, and the like.

  It should be understood that the above embodiments are described by way of example only. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments will be understood by those skilled in the art from consideration of the drawings, the present disclosure, and the appended claims, and may be implemented in practicing the claimed invention. In the claims, the term “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and “a” does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfill the functions of several elements recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measured cannot be used to advantage. The computer program may be stored / distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or solid state medium supplied with other hardware or supplied as part of other hardware, such as the Internet or other It may be distributed in other forms such as via a wired or wireless telecommunication system. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims (15)

A control device for controlling a plurality of lighting devices to emit light, each lighting device being dependent on at least one respective setting, said control device comprising:
Obtaining a cornea image formed by light reflected by the camera from at least a portion of at least one cornea of a user captured by the camera;
Automatically determining updates to one or more of the respective settings of the lighting device based on which of the lighting devices appear in and / or affect the cornea image;
Controlling the one or more lighting devices according to the update;
When the user moves and the corneal image changes, the acquisition, determination, and control are repeated to dynamically adapt the settings of the lighting device. Said decision
The controller of claim 1, comprising automatically determining the update for the respective setting based on a position of the one or more lighting devices relative to a cornea image. The position-dependent decision is
Automatically determining the update for the respective settings of the one or more lighting devices depending on whether the one or more lighting devices appear directly in the cornea image. The control apparatus of Claim 2 containing. The position-dependent decision is
Depending on whether the one or more lighting devices indirectly contribute to the light that forms the cornea image, the update to the respective settings of the one or more lighting devices is automatically performed. The control device according to claim 2, comprising determining. The controller determines the field of view of the user in the cornea image, and the position dependent determination
Depending on whether it appears in the field of view and / or depending on whether the one or more lighting devices contribute to light in the field of view. The control device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, comprising automatically determining the update for each of the settings. The user's field of view comprises a central region and a peripheral region, and the position-dependent determination is
The one or more illuminations depending on whether they appear in the central region and / or depending on whether the one or more lighting devices contribute to light in the central region. 6. The controller of claim 5, comprising automatically determining the update for the respective setting of a device. The user's field of view comprises a central region and a peripheral region, and the position-dependent determination is
Depending on whether it appears in the peripheral area and / or depending on whether the one or more lighting devices contribute to the light in the peripheral area, the one or more 6. The controller of claim 5, comprising automatically determining the update for the respective setting of a lighting device. The update
Any illumination device in the cornea image, field of view, or central region is set to on or a first light output level, and any illumination device outside the cornea image, field of view, or center region is turned off or the first The control device according to any one of claims 3 to 7, comprising setting a second light output level lower than the light output level.   The update maintains a constant value for the setting of any lighting device currently appearing in the cornea image, field of view, or central region as the user moves and / or as the user moves 9. Maintaining a constant value for the setting of any lighting device currently contributing to the light in the cornea image, field of view, or central region, according to any one of claims 3-8. Control device. Said decision
Automatically determining the update in response to detecting that a predetermined object has appeared in the cornea image, field of view, or central region;
Automatically determining the update based on a measure of contrast measured in the cornea image, field of view, or central region, and / or intensity in the cornea image, field of view, or central region exceeds a threshold 10. The controller of any one of the preceding claims, comprising one or more of automatically reducing the intensity of one or more lighting devices in response to detecting this. The controller reads one or more preset lighting control rules from a database, the lighting control rules being preset by a user;
11. A control device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the update to be applied is determined according to the one or more preset lighting control rules. The control device is
Encoded optical signals emitted by the respective light sources,
12. Each of the one or more light sources is identified based on one or more of the respective light source spectrum and / or the location of the respective light source. Control device.   A system comprising the control device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, the camera, and the configuration of one or more controllable lighting devices. A method for controlling a plurality of lighting devices to emit light, wherein each lighting device depends on at least one respective setting, and the controller comprises:
Obtaining a cornea image formed by light reflected by the camera from at least a portion of at least one cornea of a user captured by the camera;
Automatically determining updates to the respective settings of one or more of the lighting devices based on which of the lighting devices appear in and / or affect the cornea image; ,
Controlling the one or more of the lighting devices according to the update;
Repetitively acquiring, determining, and controlling to dynamically adapt the settings of the lighting device as the user moves and the corneal image changes. A computer program for controlling a plurality of lighting devices to emit light, each lighting device depending on at least one respective setting, said computer program comprising code, one code Or embodied in a plurality of computer-readable storage media and executed on one or more processors,
Receiving a cornea image formed by light reflected by the camera from at least a portion of at least one cornea of a user captured by the camera;
Automatically determining an update to one or more of the respective settings of the lighting device based on which of the lighting devices appear in and / or affect the cornea image;
Controlling the one or more lighting devices according to the update;
A computer program that, when the user moves such that the cornea image changes, repeats the acquisition, determination, and control to dynamically adapt the settings of the lighting device.